Scarlet Fever
by AgainstAuthority
Summary: Velvet Scarlatina, a girl broken by her peers. Nobody cared when she got bullied. Nobody cared that she cried. Nobody cared about her at all. That is, until one day, a certain student has had enough of it, and decides to stand up for her against a crowd of cruel and careless people.
1. Tipping the scales

My heartbeat doubled when I noticed what was going on. During lunch break, in the cafeteria, I was, not for the first time, presented with a display of cruelty.  
A brown haired, shy, and as far as I know, sweet girl, was subject to torment of unrivaled malice. Just watching the events unfold before me threw my emotions into a turmoil people my age should not be feeling, and the baffling apathy of my peers towards the whole ordeal didn't make me feel any better.

Cardin, a person I knew I would dislike from the moment I met him, was the cause of it all. He had snatched the ears of a faunus girl, after his friends had been discussing whether her long rabbit ears were real or not, quite loudly I might add. After treating the hall to about five minutes' worth of offensive conversation, Cardin walked over to the girl, and grabbed one of her ears, since one of them refused to believe they weren't cosmetic.  
"See? They're real," he yelled to his friends, without any regard for the girl who was demurely trying to make him let go.  
"You have to show us up close, dude!" one of his team members shouted.  
Cardin agreed. Without a second thought, he mercilessly pulled her off her seat, and dragged her all the way back to where his team members sat.

"Ow, quit it," the brown haired girl cried.  
"Ha, I told you guys it was real," Cardin laughed.  
"Stop it, that hurts!"  
Cardin was pulling on her ear with such force that she had to bend all the way towards him, with her face level to the table. Desperately she tried to get him to release her, both of her hands wrapped around his fist.  
"Wow, that's just disgusting. Imagine having to go around like that for your entire life," one of the CRDL members said, looking on with squinted eyes.  
"Yeah, I'd probably kill myself if I was a faunus. I mean, you'd have to live with the fact that you're an inferior, useless species. To be honest, I don't even know why they're allowed in at Beacon. I, for one, don't want them here."  
Cardin turned to face the rest of the cafeteria, and shouted  
"Come on guys, none of us actually wants these freaks here, am I right?"

Nobody else in the cafeteria did anything. I saw JNPR and RWBY look at the scene from their tables. Since I respected those teams the most, especially RWBY, I was surprised that they did nothing but stare.  
I'm not saying I'm better than them, as I did nothing for the girl either, even though I wanted to.  
I hoped maybe a fellow faunus would stick up for the girl, show some sense of solidarity in this moment of truth. None did. Every faunus that I could spot in the split second it took me to look around the hall, was either staring stoically at their plate or pretending not to notice anything. I imagine they were all afraid of being bullied too, if they stuck up for another one of their kind.

In the end, nobody helped the girl get loose from Cardin's grip. She had to pull herself free. The force it took to escape from Cardin's clutches made her stumble, something team CRDL saw as very comedic.  
"Finally, I thought you'd never do anything. I actually started to feel disgusting just from touching you. Yuck," Cardin said, and wiped his hand on the girl's vest.  
"Well, are you going to do anything? Are you going to fight me?" he added, an arrogant sneer adorning his face.  
I held my breath, as I expected the girl to punch or slap him there and then- or heck, do at least something in retaliation. But she didn't. She only balled up her fists, and turned around.  
"That's right, walk away!" Cardin jeered, "I expected nothing else from a faunus."  
The girl's ears hung limp as she stared at the floor, pacing away quickly. Team CRDL laughed at her as she left.  
Her eyes were wet with tears, I saw, when she passed by me. It was obvious she felt just about as miserable as a person can feel.  
"Hey! Wait!" I tried to call out to her, but she ignored me and kept going.  
With my arm outstretched to her, I watched her leave the cafeteria.  
I wanted to help her. I had to help her. But how?

I started as a hand clapped down on my shoulder. It was Cardin.  
"You don't have to worry about her," he told me with a reassuring grin, " She's an animal- she doesn't have feelings like you and I do. They can't think as well as we do either. So don't fret it- they're not human."  
I brushed his hand off.  
"I think our definitions of 'human' differ, then," I told him.  
They're not human? You're the one who's not human, scumbag.  
I guess he didn't like the fact that I didn't instantly agree with him, as he suddenly squeezed my shoulder so hard it hurt me.  
"Oh," he said, moving his face closer to mine, "what do you think it means to be human then? Because I don't think having a tail fits the criteria."  
I pushed his hand away, and not without anger in my voice, I said  
"You're a fucking asshole, Cardin. Get the hell away from me."  
He frowned, and left me alone.

When I turned back to my team, I was met with three quizzical gazes.  
"Well, thanks for the help just now, guys," I said, not bothering to hide my annoyance.  
They all shrugged.  
"You shouldn't get involved with stuff like that," my leader said while staring over the top of his mug.  
He took a large swig, and continued.  
"This isn't your problem."  
"You're right. This is everyone's problem," I said.  
He put his mug down, and stared at me with a raised eyebrow. I had the feeling he didn't understand me at all.  
"Look, I have no idea what you mean when you say that, so I'll ignore you. Instead, I'll just tell you this: don't mess around with Cardin. He'll beat you up if you speak out against him, okay? I get that you feel sorry for that girl, but here's no reason to get yourselfp hurt in order to help someone."  
"Yeah, like that attitude is ever going to change anything," I said.  
"You don't have to stand up for her. None of us have to," another one of my team mates said, "we did nothing wrong. So don't assume a responsibility that isn't yours."  
I pushed my lunch tray aside, and got up. I had enough of the people around me.  
"If that's how you excuse yourself for doing nothing, then fine. I'll see you guys later."  
They called for me to come back, but I didn't. I left the cafeteria the same way the brown haired faunus girl had, feeling the same amount of stares pointed at my back.

* * *

I spent the rest of the lunch break aimlessly looking around for the girl. My efforts were wasted. She had all but disappeared, it seemed.  
She didn't show up to the following lesson either, a fact that made me shift around on my seat anxiously as I listened to professor Port babble away. One side of me still told me to back off and keep out of her way, yet another, bigger part of me, was fuming with anger. This wasn't the first time I had seen open hatred displayed against faunus in the short time I had spent at Beacon, and I don't think I was going to be as complacent about it as my fellow students.

However, before I did anything to Cardin, and before I tried to help the girl, I wanted to confirm my that intentions were right, or even appropriate. I knew nothing about the faunus, so I wasn't sure whether helping the girl would be over the line.  
The first people I thought of laying my problems out to were my teammates, but they were of no help. I tried to reignite the conversation that we had during lunch, but they stubbornly ignored my attempts until I simply gave up.  
Not all was lost though, as they weren't the only people I planned to talk to. There was someone else I had my sights on, a person who I suspected to be a bigger help than my team mates anyway.

With that in mind, after the lesson came to a close, I lingered in Port's classroom. My first impressions of the professor weren't great- during class he liked to boast about his past endeavors which bored us all to tears, and he had a golden bust of himself on display for everyone to see, which I thought was almost frighteningly narcissistic. However, the more he taught us, the more it seemed he really was an admirable person.

So, after the lesson ended, I stayed behind in the classroom, waiting for all the students to leave. Once I was alone, I coughed to get Port's attention.  
"Oh, it's you!" he said, when he turned around from his desk and saw me sitting at my lectern still, "Is there anything you wish to ask about the lesson? Or would you like to hear more about my battle with the beowolf?"

"Oh, neither. But I do have a question. Kind of a personal one, actually," I said, and got up.  
"It won't be too difficult to answer, I hope," he said, and chuckled, "either way, we'll go sit in my office. This boarbatusk corpse is not something I'd like to keep looking at while I talk."  
He chuckled again.  
I stepped over the black and white, pig-like beast that Weiss had defeated during class, and followed Port through a door at the far end of the classroom.  
It revealed a small office, dominated by the colors of autumn.  
Port beckoned me to sit down in a massive chair opposite of his desk, so I did.

The chair fit perfectly, I sank away in it as if it was molded just for me. Port too, comfortably sank away in it. For a second, he stared at me, then jolted up, as if remembering something.  
"Before you ask your question, lass, would you like to have a little taste of the Atlesian '49 I have lying around?" he asked as he revealed a crystal chalice containing red liquid from under his desk. Before I realized, he had already poured me a small glass.  
"I don't drink," I said.  
"Just once is fine, I won't tell anyone," he said and gave me a fat wink, "And this is closer to grape juice than actual wine, therefore you need not worry. I sense you are nervous, so don't hesitate to take a sip and unwind. Now then, what do you have to ask me?"

"Well," I said and took a small sip of the sickeningly sweet liquid, "it's about a girl in my class. She-"  
"You don't love her, do you? Is that what it is?" Port asked, bemused.  
"No! No, I hardly know her. No, it's different. She, she- Well, I don't know how to start," I said.  
"I suggest you start with the beginning, then." Port said.  
"It's rather difficult to talk about."  
"Don't worry. Confide your problems with me! Nothing you say will leave these four walls. Speak to your heart's desire!" he said, and he spread his arms as if he intended to take anything I threw at him.

Well, I'm here now. I might as well just spew it all out.  
"In that case... You see, I'm confused about something. There's a girl in my class, she's a faunus. But that's not my problem. Ever since the lessons here started, there have been a few people that have been saying and doing terrible things to her, and to other faunus. The thing is, I just don't know what to make of it, or if I have to say something, or if I am even in a position of saying anything... What should I do?"

"Oh, lord. I didn't expect that sort of question," Port sighed as he swirled the wine in his glass, and mulled over what I said.  
"Well? That can't be all, can it?" he said after while, "you must feel at least something about it. Why don't you tell me what you think first?"  
"Oh, right. It's just that..." I hesitated for a second, "Alright. I grew up in a small town in the south west of Vale. We didn't have the same technology as we do here, and we frequently had to defend ourselves against the Grimm. I did too, even when I was little. It's actually why I wanted to become a hunter in the first place-"  
"Very commendable," Port nodded, and motioned me to continue.

"So, as I said, I grew up in a small town. There were no faunus there, ever. No traveling merchants, no lone faunus residents. I hadn't ever seen one before in my life before I came to Beacon. I'd heard of them, of course, in stories, but I never thought anything of them. I thought they were just like humans. And I guess they are, really. When I first saw the faunus on my first day at Beacon, I thought they were magnificent. Humans with animal features, it was incredible. I can't imagine why humans would treat them poorly just for being slightly different. The reason for such behavior, it's just completely absurd to me. I can't even imagine what you'd have to be like as a person in order to discriminate to such an extent. So what if they look slightly different? Isn't that interesting, or doesn't it at least make you feel good that we humans have such great companions in this world? Both humans and faunus are constantly attacked by the grimm, shouldn't we be brothers in arms? Why fight among ourselves as well? Because they have a tail, or cat ears, and we don't? Is such a superficial difference going to drive us apart?"

Port sighed again, and slowly put down his glass. He stroked his mustache a few times before he answered.  
"You pose good questions, but answering them isn't that simple, I'm afraid. Both humans and faunus are tribal creatures. We always have been, we always will be. Humanity sticks to what they know, and shun what they don't know. It's how we survived as a species, it's how we made it through the dark times of the past. Even though we have long lost the need for such tribal instincts, some people still have them, even today. You can't blame them for that. Though, it does not mean they can't be educated into relinquishing these tribal beliefs. Say, are you familiar with the history between the humans and faunus?"  
I shook my head.  
"That explains your confusion then. Well, I can't tell you everything right now, so let's just say that there's a lot of bad blood between us. We used them as slaves, forced them to do the work we didn't want to do, while justifying it by telling ourselves they weren't human, and that it therefore didn't matter what happened to them. On the flip-side, there are still faunus today who would like nothing more than for humanity to be all but wiped off the face of the earth. Now, you and me have grown past the history and beliefs of our ancestors, but some haven't. I know very well that there are human students here at Beacon who still hold archaic beliefs regarding the faunus. Though, of course there are faunus who hold the same sentiment towards humans, too."  
"Alright, but if you know there are students like that, why don't the teachers do anything?"

Port leaned back in his chair.  
"What can we do? It's the upbringing these kids received, that gave them such attitudes. We can hardly brainwash them to let go of their own beliefs. They won't listen to us, and won't accept any new ideas. They'll reject it all, thinking their own point of view is right. And that's just as well. Only through the interaction with their peers can they change, I think you'll find. If Humans and faunus get to know each other, the perceived differences will fade away."  
"You think so?"  
"I've seen it with my own eyes. I remember a particular student, I won't say who she was. Came here fifteen years ago, with an absolute hatred for humans. She picked fights whenever she could, and picked on one human boy in particular. Many a time did I have to grab them both by the collar to stop them from killing each other. I thought their situation was hopeless, but the contrary turned out to be true."  
"What happened to them?" I asked.  
"They ended up marrying, if you can believe it. Why I'm telling you this is to show you that, well, people will come around at some point or another. They'll realize their mistake soon enough, and undergo a personal change."  
"That's great and all," I said, "but right now, that girl is still being bullied. I don't think she's looking forward for three years of harassment before Card- uh, the guy who bullies her 'comes around'."

Port chuckled.  
"I admire the good in your heart, kid, and I admit you have a point. I said people will come around to the idea of equality sooner or later by themselves. However, I'm not saying I will object if someone decides to... beat the idea into them, so to speak," he said. Then, he laughed jovially, and patted me on the shoulder.

"So, are you saying I-"  
"You heard what I said. Just do what you think is right. I wouldn't say this to everyone, but I think you know very well what the right thing is."  
"I- I see. Thank you, professor Port."  
When I got up to leave, he said one more thing.  
"My dear, let's keep this exchange between just the two of us, shall we?"  
I nodded.  
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone."  
Port's expression relaxed.  
"Well, then, off you go. Let me leave you one more proverb, though. 'When good men do nothing, evil thrives'," he said, "remember that."  
And remember it, I did.

With determination stirring in my heart, I left for my next lesson.

* * *

Cardin pushed the girl to the ground. The books and notes she held clutched to her chest spread out over the floor.  
"Get out of my way, freak. Know your place," he said, his cohorts laughing merrily.  
I had just turned the corner, in the hallway leading away from Port's classroom, when I saw it happen. The rest of the students averted their eyes, and kept up their pace, walking right past her. Soon, the hallway was empty save for the girl, team CRDL and me.  
"What the hell is wrong with you, dude," I said, "you should apologize to her."  
I know my demand was as stupid as it was ineffective, but it was the only thing I could come up with.  
Cardin took his gaze off the girl, and chuckled when he saw me.  
"Apologize for what? Should I apologize if I step on an ant too? Get real, loser."  
Cardin swung his arms around the shoulders of his team mates, kicked one of the girl's books away, and they all left, snickering while looking at us over their shoulders.

With boiling blood I ran to the girl, and sank to my knees. I ignored whatever CRDL was still yelling at me.  
"Hey, are you okay?" I said to the girl, who was slowly trying to get up, "here, let me help you."  
I started collecting the papers she dropped.  
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she quietly repeated, and started to pick up her books up. She had a distinct Atlesian accent.  
"Thanks," she said when I handed her her notes, her voice sounded restrained. Even though there were still many more books scattered around, she moved away from me, as if she was trying to escape.  
"Hold on a second," I said.  
She turned around her head.  
"What?"  
"I'm sorry about what they did to you. It's not right."  
She narrowed her eyes.  
"Are you apologizing for them?"  
"No! I'm just... I just want you to know that humans aren't all like that."  
She scoffed. Her eyes narrowed even more, into a rancorous glance.  
"Huh. Is that so? Not all humans are the same? That's rich, coming from you. A human."  
She spat out the word as if it was an insult. And to me it was. Hearing her say it like that, felt like having a dagger plunged into my heart. My shoulders drooped. Had I said anything wrong?  
"Why did you even help me up? Did you think it would make me feel better? Or did you just do it to make yourself feel better?" she asked.  
She cast her eyes down.  
"You have no idea what it's like to be me."  
More than angry, she sounded sad. I had to fix this, quick.  
"I, oh god, of course, I'm sorry if I offended you, I- of course I can't possibly imagine what it's like-"  
"No! Exactly! So shut up!" she yelled, and ran away, leaving the rest of her books behind on the floor.  
"Wait!" I yelled back, but she turned the corner before I could say anything more.  
Goddammit. I was such an idiot.

Full of remorse, I slowly picked up the rest of her notes. With each paper I picked up, her words resounded in my head.  
I didn't know what it was like to be her. She's right, I don't. But I'll be damned if I don't try to understand. I wasn't going to let this continue. I wanted to see her smile, at least once.  
It might sound corny, but who cares? I don't need any more motivation than that.  
I'm going to do what I think is right.


	2. Made to be broken

**This chapter is dedicated to Tom Wilson.  
**

* * *

I found the girl where I expected her to.  
She sat all the way in the back of the classroom, on her own. Not even her teammates got near her, it seemed. What scum of the earth.

Hesitantly, I set down the notes she dropped back in the hallway, on her desk.

"Uh, here. You forgot these," I said.  
She ignored me, or maybe she didn't even notice me. Either way, she sat hunched over, trembling as she tightly interlocked her fingers on her lap.  
There were about a thousand things I wanted to tell her, at that moment. An infinite amount of words did I want to say to make her feel better... yet the melancholy of the situation was that I didn't.

This wasn't the time, nor the place. Pressured by the stares of half the class, and without reason to awkwardly stand beside her, I went over to my own seat, keeping about a thousand words safe in the pocket of my heart. I'll keep them with me, for now. As much as I anticipate saying them, I'll keep them hidden away until the time is right.  
Just for her, the brown haired girl, haha. It's silly when I think about it, but it means something to me.

"What the hell was that about?" my team leader asked when I sat down beside him, more out of habit than out of a desire to.  
"Nothing, nothing," I brushed him off. He'd made it clear he wasn't going to sympathize with my feelings earlier, so I sure as hell wasn't going to bother explaining the situation now.  
With raised eyebrows he said,  
"Ok, whatever," and that was that.  
Even if either of us wanted to, there was no time to say anything more, as the teacher started his lecture right away.

That period, my thoughts were mostly about the girl who sat not so far behind me.  
Despite that, I managed to pick up on an interesting exchange, as I was more alert in Oobleck's classes than anyone else's. History of Remnant was something I was extremely interested in.  
Oobleck was telling us about the battle for Fort Castle- an important turning point in the faunus war for liberation (which is something I only learned about recently. The more I learn at Beacon, the more annoyed I get at how little my previous school actually taught us.)  
Now, I wouldn't relay this to you, if it wasn't for the previously mentioned, very, very interesting factoid that the professor told brought to my attention.  
I remembered it very well, and ever since he talked about it, I started paying even more attention to his classes.

"Jaune," Oobleck said, "can you tell me what gave general Lagune and the faunus he commanded the upper hand in the battle for Fort Castle?"  
The boy in question, who I think had been sleeping up till now, gave the puzzling answer that the faunus possessed binoculars, and that's why they won.  
"No," Oobleck chattered, "that's not it at all, no. Say, can anyone else tell me?"  
"They had night vision," a girl said, "faunus have night vision. The humans tried to ambush the faunus at night, but it backfired on them."  
"Very good, very good! Indeed, faunus can see in the night. Say, what was your name again?"

"Blake."  
"Tell me Blake, how did you learn about the night vision of faunus?"  
"I... just read it somewhere."  
"Very well. Reading is never a waste of time. Now, moving on. After the battle of Fort Castle turned the war in favor of the faunus, it quickly became clear that-..."  
The girl who had correctly answered Oobleck's question, was part of team RWBY, if I recall correctly. I had never paid her any mind, as she was very reluctant to even speak to her own team mates, let alone me. However, her knowledge of faunus intrigued me, almost as much as the faunus' ability of night vision intrigued me.  
She seemed to be interested in the faunus at the very least. Maybe I can ask her for help, if my attempts to get closer to the brown haired girl turn out to be futile.  
Some assistance wouldn't be bad at all, especially not from someone who knew more about the faunus.

For in the end, my plan of approaching her was not thought out in the least.  
The words of the faunus girl still swirled around inside my head, even after a day, and I didn't know what to do with them.  
My complete lack of a battle plan was mainly to blame on the time constraint- I didn't have the time to think about it. A measly period of 24 hours was not enough to tackle a problem as big as this one.  
I could spend days and nights on end, thinking about how to handle a situation like this, a situation I never had to deal with in my entire life.  
It's very exciting to entertain the thought that you, as a person, would go and do something good, but it really begs the question: _what exactly is it that you'll do_?

Turns out though, that to my fortune, or rather, misfortune, it didn't need to know the answer.  
I didn't need a plan ready to approach her. From the moment I left Oobleck's classroom, and decided to change my gear in the, as far as I knew, empty locker room, my fate was solidified in stone. The pieces of a puzzle I hardly knew existed all fell into place perfectly.  
So perfectly in fact, that it was almost uncanny.  
Now that I think about it, I must've sensed something was off the moment my fellow students and I passed by the locker rooms. I must've heard shouting coming from beyond the wall and I must've used my gear as an excuse to slip away from my friends. Yes, that must be it, right?

I'm saying this as if I'm happy about what happened, but trust me, I fucking hated every second of it.

* * *

He pushed her against the locker, her soft body against the cold, hard steel.  
His hand firmly planted on her chest, his friends circling the both of them like hyenas. Her breath was slow, his weight on her lungs making it hard for her to breathe.  
They were alone, team CRDL had trapped her in the locker room. This rectangular, dreary place with locker lined walls was the stage that had been set.

"Come on, give it up," he said.

"No..."  
"What was that?"  
"No...," she said, and squeezed her eyes tight shut, "I'm not giving you my money anymore. I- I need it too... so- so please... I-"  
Her words cut short when he slammed his fist against the locker, missing her face by an inch.

It was Cardin who threatened her, of course. Why not? Who else could it be, who else would gang up on a girl to steal her lunch money.

"Bullshit. What the hell do you need it for? You're an animal for fuck's sake, what the fuck would you ever want to buy?"  
"Uh-uhm... food, and, uhm-"  
Cardin slammed his fist into the locker again, and she went completely silent.  
He inhaled, exhaled, and with a sigh, he started to talk very matter-of-factly.  
"Look, I don't think you get it. That's not your money. It's mine," he said, while rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I'm a retard? That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"  
"No! I don't think that at all, I-"  
"Because I think," he continued, "I think you're lying to me. You don't need to buy food at all. You're trying to keep my money to yourself. You think I'm stupid, don't you? You think, that I don't know, that you fucking faunus can just go outside and _munch on the fucking grass_? Go outside, there's your fucking food!"

Cardin accentuated each syllable of his last sentence with a punch to the locker, punctuating the final one with a punch directly to her face.

His fist hit hard. Blood spurt from her nose, and she cried out, in pain.  
Her knees shook, then buckled, and if Cardin hadn't held her pinned to the locker, she would've sank to the ground.  
He grabbed her by the chin, her blood flowing over his hand.  
"Now, I'll tell you again. Give me my money."  
Against all odds, she shook her head. No, she would not give it up. She would not give in.  
Cardin sighed, like he did before, and shook his head.  
"You leave me no choice, you know that? I try to be reasonable, and you just fuck it up for yourself. I don't even want to do this, but you know how it is. A disobedient pet needs to be punished."

From his pocket, he slowly drew a weapon. A small switchblade, flashing as he flipped it open.

That's the point where I come in, just in time to see Cardin take out a knife.  
He intended to stab her, that much was clear. And I wouldn't let him. Whatever gears spun in my brain, they worked overtime. As soon as I saw the horrific tableau before me, I knew what to do.

I dropped my schoolbag the same way I shed off my fear, and charged forwards.  
In some adrenaline fueled state of hyper awareness, I could see every little detail of the scene as I closed in on it.  
I saw Cardin's face, contorted in a sneer, a mix of anger and excitement. I saw the girl, gasping for air, her fingers spread out with her hands pressed to the locker, the approaching knife reflected in her eyes.

If I had entered the locker room only a second too late, I couldn't have stopped him. I couldn't have jumped towards him, and grabbed him by his wrist. I couldn't have, amongst the yelling of his friends, hoisted him over my back, and slammed him into the ground. Most of all, I couldn't have prevented the knife from scarring the girl's innocent face. Thank god I was on time.

I didn't get a second's rest, though. Something hard hit me in the side of the head, at about the same time as Cardin hit the tiled floor, and instantly my eyesight was gone, as was my balance. Seeing only a bright white, not knowing which way was up, the force of the blow almost launched me away.  
It must've been one of Cardin's friends, who hit me in the head.

Now, I've been mauled by many grimm, all throughout my life. Claws, fangs, spikes, scales, and more, all have injured me. It's funny how my past experiences with them could never even come close to giving me the pain that I experienced, after my head smacked on the ground.  
The only bright side of this is that, like whacking an old TV, it gave me my vision back, albeit dotted with stars.

I won't indulge in the beating that I received from Cardin's underlings (which they were at this point- underlings to a cruel dictator).  
Instead I'll just tell you that the amount of times I felt their fists and feet impact my body started to reach an uncountable number.  
I felt it- the pain- all too clearly, but what really interested me during my time spent as a human punching bag, was that the girl made no attempts to escape. Cardin was out of commission for now, and his team members were busy with me. She had ample time to make a run for it, yet she didn't.  
As if some intrinsic force held her back, she stayed still, pressed against the locker.

"Alright, alright, that's enough, you can stop now," Cardin said, once he got back up, prompting the CRDL members to leave me alone, bleeding and with a few broken fingers.  
"You guys," Cardin referred to his team members, "go outside and keep an eye out. Make sure nobody gets in."  
The three young men obliged, but not without giving me a few kicks before leaving.  
The room's door closed with an ominous slam, and with that, the three of us were alone.

"Well, well, well. Do you think you're cool? Do you think you're a hero? If you do, you're wrong. You're an idiot. You would've done better to stay away from us. To stay away from her," Cardin said to me.  
He stood over me, looking down.  
If I could've, I would've socked him. But, and this is something that came with a wave of uneasiness, I noticed that I was unable to move my body. I was numb all over, I couldn't even feel my face.  
Complete immobility was the only thing stopping me, frankly, as my fighting spirit certainly was there. My soul was on fire, frustrated that I could do nothing but watch as Cardin carried out his desires.

"I guess you're an idiot. Or you're brainwashed. Do you really think it's worth to protect a faunus?" he shrugged, "What are you, retarded? Get a grip, you waste of space."  
He spat on me, and turned to the girl.

"And you, look at what you've done. Look at the trouble you've put this kid in," he pointed at me, "this fine human had to get hurt to protect you. You realize how great of a crime that is, right? You realize how many fucking rules you have broken, how insanely guilty you are, in my book, in the book of humanity? Your filthy race causes nothing but trouble. It'd be best if you all just fucking died... but who would we put to work in the mines, then? You're only still alive because we let you live. Don't think you faunus won the war. You didn't. We simply let you win, because unlike faunus, we humans are actually capable of sympathy, of altruism. If it wasn't for us, you'd still be digging in the dirt for food, and killing each other in petty tribal disputes. We humans pulled you into the modern age.  
We've done so much, and this is how you repay us?"  
Cardin inhaled through his nose, closed his eyes, and exhaled through his teeth.

"Well... I'm willing to let it slide. We're altruistic, after all, aren't we? Us humans. I'm a nice guy, so instead of giving you a punishment, I'll reward you! How's that? What do you think of that, huh? Nice of me, isn't it? Are you glad?"

Cardin asked, and tugged her ear to get her attention.

She only shrank away from him, much to his annoyance.  
"Hey," he said, "I'm being nice here, so you be nice too, and answer me. Now, tell me, aren't you glad?"  
"Y-yes, I-I'm glad..."  
"Yeah, see? There we go! Of course you're glad, because I'm going to be helping you," Cardin cheered, with a mad glint in his eyes, "I'm giving you a chance to be more like us. Sound good, or what? You'll almost be a human. I mean, obviously you won't actually be human like me, but at least you can pretend you are. All that is needed, is a small surgical procedure, but of course you don't mind that."

He brought the knife to her ear, which he was still holding on to.

"All we have to do, is get rid of your ears. What a simple solution! I can't believe nobody has ever thought about that. That way, nobody will have to look at them and feel disgusted, and you won't have to feel as ashamed about appearing in public. It's a win-win situation for all of us, isn't it? And it's all completely free! You won't have to pay me for it. In fact, I won't even expect any thanks. You know why? I'm doing this from the good of my heart, that's why."

He grinned, as if he told an extremely funny joke, and turned to me.  
"You might wanna close your eyes," he said, "this could get a little messy."

That was all he had to say, it seemed, as he pushed the girl to her knees, and crouched down next to her.  
"Now, hold still, okay? This requires a bit of effort. Don't be scared. The more you cooperate, the quicker this will be over," he said.  
Quietly chuckling to himself, he got to work.

His knife got closer and closer to her, but she didn't scream. The only sign of emotion she showed, were the tears streaming down her face. While she had resisted Cardin earlier, she now simply looked away. She had been completely overtaken by some sort of twisted complacency, by which all the fight had left her, getting replaced by an acceptance of fate without trying to change it.

Well, I wasn't going to let it happen. Fate will change, I'll force it to. This was no time for conversation. This was no time for thought. The time had run out, for both me and the girl.

This was time for action.

Mustering all the power I had left in my body, collected by sheer willpower, I strained to make myself move. It didn't matter that my face was bleeding. It didn't matter that I couldn't feel my legs.

It didn't matter my head was spinning to the point where I couldn't see anymore.

None of that mattered in the face of this otherworldly cruelty.

As every limb was screaming at me to stop moving, I did anyway. I shot up, as quick as I could, and ran towards Cardin.

He didn't even notice me. That dumb fuck didn't even notice me, when I kicked him in the fucking head. He was so obsessed with harming the girl that his surroundings were completely drowned out.

With a dull thud, the nose of my boot impacted his temple, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Then, in one fluid motion, without hesitating for a second, I grabbed the girl by her wrist, and pulled her up to her feet.  
"Wha-"

"Come on! Let's get out of here before his friends come after us!" I said, and ran for it, the girl stumbling after me.

We ran, as fast as we could, in no discernible direction. Through the hallways of Beacon, bumping into students without a care. All we wanted was to get the hell away from Cardin, that fucking psychopath. God knows what he'd do if he caught up with us. It's clear his mind had departed from all rational thought, and that absolute malice was his sole driving force.

While we were running, I can't point out the exact moment, I released her wrist. Holding it while we ran was awkward, and only hindered us.

That's why, when after I let her go, I was surprised that she slid her hand in mine.  
"We're going the wrong way!" she yelled at me, and I felt her tug on my hand, "if we go back a little, there's a place we can hide! Follow me!"  
I gladly accepted her offer.  
Our roles were reversed, as she led me back through a corridor, through a set of doors I never noticed, and up a ridiculously long spiral staircase.

* * *

 ** _Scarlet fever._**  
An infectious disease, that among other things, causes paranoia and hallucinations.  
A disease so dangerous, it requires everything around the patient to be burned, so it can't spread.  
If untreated, it can lead to death.

That's what this was, this hatred. It was like a disease, spreading over the world. Just as infectious, and just as dangerous.

And in Cardin's case, well, the illness had gone terminal.

* * *

We reached the summit of the staircase sooner than I thought, as we were still running as fast as we could.  
Before I knew it, we both stumbled into a small, round room. I think it was situated at the top of one of Beacons many towers. Its walls were lined with benches, and the arched windows set into the walls gave an almost 360 degree look over Beacon and its grounds, while also letting in ample amount of sunlight.

She sat down, facing the sun, letting the light play on her face, and I sat down across from her. Both of us were panting, after having ran so much.

"Wow..." I said after a while, after my heart had settled down a bit, "I can't believe that happened. How do you feel?"

She looked at me, but didn't respond.

"Uh, you know what... never mind," There was a small, but very present, awkward silence between us.  
"Uh, what's your name?" I tried.

"Velvet."

Velvet. One of the softest materials. What a great name, and how oddly appropriate too.

"How long has Cardin been doing shit like this to you, Velvet?" I asked.  
She used her sleeve to wipe off the blood from her face, before she answered.  
"He always has. Ever since I came here, he's been doing this..."

Goddamn.

It took a moment for me to think about that. It took a moment for me to process that there were people like Cardin in the world, who would do what he did without showing an ounce of remorse.

This is the moment, the time and the place. I'll say what I want to say.

"Listen to me. From now on, it will be over. I'm going to help you, okay? You don't deserve this... you don't deserve any of this. I- I'll make sure he'll never even look at you again. I'm- I'm going to make sure you're happy."

She furrowed her brow, when hearing that.  
"Why... why would you do that for me?" she asked.

Come on, why do you have to ask me such a simple question.  
The answer is obvious, isn't it?  
"Because if you're happy, I'm happy."

Ha. I can't believe I said it. I don't know where I got the courage from.  
Maybe I could say it so easily because the truth is the easiest to speak. And that's exactly what it was- the truth.

Though I might have been too up front. Now she's just blushing furiously.

"And besides," I said, not afraid to double down on the saccharine words now that I had nothing to lose anyway, "you deserve to be happy, most of all. I can't stand to watch what happens to you. I can choose to do nothing, but that choice will end up killing me inside. I can't- I can't look at you, and not see someone who deserves happiness, and, and I want to give it to you."

Just as I thought her face could not get any more red, it did. Suffice to say, my complexion wasn't exactly pale anymore either- as saying those things, and having her hear them, were both far beyond my comfort zone, so I too was sitting there rubicund and nervous.

"I... Appreciate that you say that but... I- I don't get it... I don't-" she said. It seemed as if she wanted to say more, but couldn't.

This was a problem.  
I had sent my feelings out into the great unknown, where they would spin out of control until someone picked them up.  
Velvet did so, as far as I can tell, though reluctantly, as she fidgeted with the edge of her dress, reluctant to look at me.  
Ah, yes, my carefully aimed feelings hit their target, and found themselves in possession of the girl I tried to reach.  
But, and this is one of the greatest tragedies in life, just because a message is received, doesn't mean it is understood.

She stood, I imagine, in the middle of an empty wasteland, surrounded by nothingness, clutching in one hand a tear soaked letter with my half baked words on it. Unsure what it meant, clueless as to what to do with it.

"You're being nice to me... but... I don't understand. I don't understand- what makes you say these things? What made you want to get hurt, just for me? I don't understand."

Oh man. In these past few weeks, she must've been grinded down to such an extent, even the concept of sympathy was a foreign one to her. Her spirit turned malleable, molded from a happy person into an empty shell, with glazed eyes as if the life was sucked out of them.  
She had lost the ability to love herself, and with that, the ability to understand why people might like her- which to me, is the most horrific thing that can happen to a person.

It only served to fuel my anger for Cardin, and anyone who was heartless enough to change people in such a way.

I had to make her accept me. If she didn't, it would be over. She'd continue down a spiral of despair, and I fear what would happen if she reached the bottom of it.  
With all my efforts, I tried to reach out to her.

"There's a lot of things I don't understand, you know," I said, "And out of all those things, I don't understand why anyone would do this to you the least."

She remained quiet.

"But you know what? Fuck understanding them. Cardin's, or anyone else's reasoning doesn't matter. We don't have to busy ourselves with delving into their fucked minds to understand whatever they're thinking. We can only accept them, or do something about them, even if they don't make a lick of sense. So, please, just accept that I want to help you without asking why, even though it's obvious to me why I would."

Whew. Some more things I never expected to say.  
For the first time, she gave a genuine response.  
"Accept you... Well... It's not like I don't want to but I just... It's so strange that someone would be nice to me, after all this time. I really do want to... accept you and everything... but I'm afraid. I'm afraid you too will hurt me if I open up. I don't know if I can trust you."

So she's scared. Well, I understand that. She's locked herself away, and I don't have the key.  
She told me what I wanted her to tell me anyway. In between words, she sniffed as she spoke.

"What you say scares me... The thought of being happy, too. I'm used to feeling terrible... You know, I thought- I thought coming to Beacon was going to be fun... I thought I'd make friends and- and just be happy... But that never happened. When I came here I was excited, I was glad, and I was looking forward to studying here so much and, now, it's just..."  
She stopped for a second, to swallow something- tears presumably, and continued.  
"I'm stupid for thinking that I could be happy. I just feel sad all of the time, I feel sad when I wake up, and I feel sad when I go to sleep. I'm scared of going to class, I'm scared of going to lunch, I'm scared to talk to people, and I'm scared when someone even looks at me... I'm scared... but I don't want to be scared! I never wanted any of this! I didn't ask to be born this way! I wish I was normal... I wish... I wish I could just curl up and- and cry, and never stop crying..."

She buried her face in her hands, and to be honest, I wanted to do the same. The way she thought about herself, the way her self esteem was crushed to nothing- it tore apart my heartstrings. I had to help her. I had to make her feel good again. It would be a long process and maybe it will never be okay, after this, and maybe I can't make her go back to the way she was before. But I'll be damned if I don't try.  
I stood up, even though my legs hurt. I grabbed her firmly by her shoulders, and looked her straight into her brown eyes as I spoke.

"Velvet," I said, "don't you dare think those things. I can't imagine what it's like for you, you were right when you said that. But you have to listen to me when I say this: don't you dare let Cardin affect you like that. You're worth more than him. You're worth more than the whole lot. Look at me. I'm bleeding all over, and I can't feel my face. All for you. Isn't that enough to prove you can trust me?"

She grinned, just a little, and wiped some tears from her eyes.  
"Yeah... Maybe."

"Right," I said, and sat down next to her.  
"From now on, this will be all over."  
"Is that a promise?" she asked.  
"It's a promise. Forget about Cardin. Forget about everything else. Today, it's all going to change. By now, I've had some time to think, and I think I have a pretty good plan. We're going to pay him back. You're going to pay him back. So don't worry."

"I- I guess I'll try not to," she said, and sighed.

She wiped more, maybe all, tears from her face, then looked out the windows, over the the fields surrounding Beacon.

We sat like that for a while. Just the two of us, in a place nobody could reach. It was peaceful, in a way, and I felt content.

We could've been like that forever, if it wasn't for the school bell that rang, interrupting the serenity.

"Oh," Velvet perked up, "lunch is already over. Shouldn't we, uh, go now?"

"Nah," I said, "let's play hooky for a while."

"What- what does that mean?" Velvet blurted out, instantly getting red in the face again.  
"It means skipping class," I said, "why, what did you think it meant?"  
"Oh, nothing, nothing," she said, looking relieved, for some reason.  
"So, do you want to? I honestly don't feel like going to a lecture now."  
"Yeah, me neither. This is actually a good opportunity... You see, there's a book I want to buy, it's not in the library, so I've been looking for an excuse to visit Vale to buy it. This seems like the perfect time. Shall we go there?."

"To Vale? Sure. I was thinking of hanging out in an empty dorm room, but your idea's better. I've never had the chance to see the city properly anyway, so I'm up for it."

We could leave the tower in peace. The tower where we also left all our negative emotions behind. We didn't say it, but I think neither of us will return to that place again. Because going there would mean hiding, and Velvet would not hide anymore.

There were classes going on as we sneaked out, which meant the halls were vacant, with not a single student or teacher in sight to bother us.

The warm outside air greeted us, when we stepped through Beacon's large front gate.  
I had a good feeling, and I think Velvet did too.  
For the time being, we'd get away from the world for a while. For the time being, we had the chance to meet each other without the backdrop of a school, without having to worry about anyone but ourselves.

Surrounded by lush meadows, under a cloudless sky, we walked over the path to Vale.  
The city beckoned us from distance. Stretching beyond it, the infinite world. A more kind one, I feel.

In many ways, this seemed like an ordinary summer day, and in many ways, it was.  
We were still, despite everything, just two teenagers trying for the first time to have a fun time together.

Velvet hummed as we walked, and I enjoyed it. I loved it, in fact, as it signaled a certain change in her.  
The wind played in her hair, she walked with her head straight, and her eyes sparkled.

Velvet, if you promise to keep being perfect like that, then I promise I will never leave your side.  
Those were the words I that played in my head, yet remained unspoken.  
Maybe one day, I'll say them.

For now, I'll keep quiet, and enjoy the short walk to Vale.

* * *

 **A big thanks to everyone who read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Addendum:  
Please return to this chapter at a later date, as I will rewrite a small portion of it.**


	3. The watershed entry

I will never forget the look she had on her face, when she turned around to me. I also won't forget what she said to me.

"You said it would be over... You promised."

This was before the other brainless students poured in to look at what was happening, before I would let myself go and yell at them, and break my sunglasses, and then yell some more. But forget about the crowd, and forget their forced sympathy. They might think they were being nice, but the truth is that they disgusted me. I may have blown up at them, but really I was frustrated with myself. What anyone else had to say was irrelevant.

Velvet mattered.

And what she said to me, affected me the most. Her words had me rooted to the ground.  
What had happened here, in her dorm room, was only one of the things that fueled my doubt. It made me doubt if I was really doing the right thing. It made me doubt whether I could help her, if maybe that was something that was out of my expertise.

I did promise it'd be over. It's something I can't deny. I shouldn't have promised something like that.  
I was full of myself. And this was the consequence.

Ash fluttered around the room, and stuck to Velvet's face.

This was the consequence.

* * *

 _ _Final entry.__

 _ _Tuesday, sunny.__

 _ _It's been raining for the past few weeks. Pretty much since the day I came to Beacon, it rained.__ _  
_ _ _Thank goodness it was sunny today.__

 _ _This will probably be my last diary entry. I know I've confided a lot to these pages the last few weeks, but I don't need it anymore. I met someone who I can talk to. I met someone I like. No more holing up and scribbling down fears, haha. Besides, my real diary is just a pile of ashes anyway. I couldn't write in it even if I wanted to.__

 _ _All I have is this one page. Soon it will be nothing more than ash too. I'm only writing to pass the time.__ _  
_ _ _I don't want to look back on what I've written here, that's why I don't have to keep it, luckily. That's not what this is for. This entry is not for remembering, but for forgetting. I can just leave my memories behind, burn them up, and scatter their ashes. Like a cremation. Well, maybe that's a bit too dark.__

 _ _Today in Vale, I finally bought that book I wanted to. The Thirteenth Crusade. I wish I could start reading immediately, but there's so many other things that I have to get done first.__ _  
_ _ _It doesn't matter much. I'm looking forward to those other things as well. Maybe even more.__ _  
_ _ _Coco went with me, of course. She's been really nice to me, ever since yesterday, nicer than anyone ever has been. She proved it again today- that she's amazing, and that she is nice. Because there's a difference, you know, but she's both.__

 _ _The bookstore owner was very nice to me, for example. But he wasn't amazing. He was pretty terrible, actually. You see, you can pretend to be nice, but being amazing is something you can't mimic. You either are, or you aren't.__ _  
_ _ _What happened in the store shows just that.__

 _ _The bookstore owner held back Coco when I went off on my own to find what I wanted.  
__ _  
_ _ _He whispered to her that he didn't like serving people like me, and that Coco shouldn't familiarize with my kind. I was nothing but trouble, he insisted. It's funny, because he thought I couldn't hear him, but I could. I also understood that this was one of those people who only pretended to be nice.__

 _ _"Your convictions aren't very strong then, if you're serving her anyway," Coco replied, so deadpan that I almost laughed. Not really because of what she said, but how she said it.__ _  
_ _ _"The only reason I helped that girl is because I'd get in trouble with the white fang if I didn't," he replied.__ _  
_ _ _Coco was so quick witted with her answer to that, it's like she read the script to her life or something.__ _  
_ _ _She said people like him were the prime reason why the white fang existed in the first place. I almost laughed again, because of how impressed I was with the way she used words. I really like that about her.__

 _ _She was really angry too. She would be really angry at least three times today, and this was the first time.__ _  
_ _ _She slammed down fifty lien on the counter, and almost carried me out of the store.__ _  
_ _ _I played it cool and innocently asked why we had to go, but Coco refused to tell me why she wanted to leave. She didn't want me to be upset, I think.__

 _ _And the book- that was a present from her, she said. No matter how much I protested, she wouldn't accept my money.__ _  
_ _ _That made me happy.__

 _ _I told her everything I knew about the thirteenth crusade while we wandered around Vale. I'm glad she listened to me the entire time. Talking about something other than nothing is fun.__ _  
_ _ _We visited the fountain, the park, the town hall, the docks, and a lot of other places too.__ _  
_ _ _She had never been in Vale before, she said, so I was happy to show her around. I knew the city like my back pocket. I spent most of my time there, when I didn't have to be at school. Anything to escape that place, hahaha.__

 _ _It's a good thing she bought me the book, now that I think about it. I want to pay her back you see. Getting my money back from Cardin is yet another thing I can add to the already long list of reasons for what I'm going to do.__

 _ _When we both returned to Beacon, I found another reason for that list.__ _  
_ _ _What we encountered is actually the thing I want to write about most.__ _  
_ _ _And thus, the thing I want to forget the most.  
Honestly, I wish I could forget everything.__

 _ _Something terrible had happened to my dorm room. Something that made me very sad. And something that made Coco very, very angry.__ _  
_ _ _It was hard to digest it. I had to look twice just to be sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.__ _  
_ _ _I hardly recognized the place I lived, and the place I slept, anymore.__

 _ _All my books were turned to ashes.__ _  
_ _ _All my clothes into ribbons.__ _  
_ _ _All my belongings into fragments of nothingness.__

 _ _My heart was in shambles also.__ _  
_ _ _Everything that was dear to me, was destroyed.__

 _ _I hate myself for it, but I cried, just a bit.__ _  
_ _ _There was a little note on my bed, or rather, on what was left of my bed.__

 _ _'Consider this a warning,' it said.__ _  
_ _ _It was from Cardin, it had to be. He and his friends must have trashed the place, knowing full well that everything I had stored away there, was in fact all I had.__ _  
_ _ _He knew because I told him that, back when he still pretended to be my friend.__

 _ _I don't know how much of a beating you can take as a person before you just, I don't know- die from sadness or something. Because I don't think I can take a lot more of this, and I'm starting to get afraid about what would've happened if I didn't meet Coco.__ _  
_ _ _I don't think I would've been able to bear it much longer.__

 _ _I was hardly keeping it together now, after all.__

 _ _Everything I had was gone. He took it all from me.__ _  
_ _ _Cardin hurt me before, but this was different. What he did now hurt me in a different way, and a lot more than anything physical could.__ _  
_ _ _Thank goodness Coco was with me. Someone to get mad on my behalf. And believe me- she was mad.__

 _ _She got mad when she saw what happened to my belongings. She got mad when she saw Cardin through the window, laughing at us from the courtyard, but she got really angry when a small crowd formed around the door to my dorm.__ _  
_ _ _Over time, a bunch of people stayed still in the corridor. They huddled together, peering inside at us and the calamity that was the dorm room. Worse than that, they all looked like they had nothing to say.__ _  
_ _ _They were eager to stare at my misfortune though, like they always have been. I didn't want them to. I wanted them to leave. I didn't even want them to know I existed.__ _  
_ _ _Their stares made me shrink. Them seeing this only makes it worse.__

 _ _My team leader was among them, and she was the only person who had the courage to enter, get close to me.__ _  
_ _ _"Oh my god," she said quietly, "this is terrible."__ _  
_ _ _The crowd behind her agreed, in the form of an incomprehensible mumbling. Oh, how terrible it was for poor me, they seemed to be saying.__ _  
_ _ _"Velvet, I'm so sorry for you... if there's anything I can do... just say the word..."__

 _ _She didn't really sound genuine at all. I didn't care.__ _  
_ _ _I hardly knew her. She never really talked to me. She didn't even sit next to me in class. I don't know why she cared all of a sudden. I also don't understand why she said she was 'so sorry.' Like I care if you're sorry, damn it.__

 _ _The crowd agreed with her though. The crowd of people I didn't know was suddenly extremely motivated to help me out.__ _  
_ _ _My team leader approached me.__

 _ _"It was Cardin who did this, wasn't it? Oh, I'm so sorry..."__ _  
_ _ _She reached her arm out, maybe to hug me, or something. It didn't matter what her intentions were. Coco slapped the girl's arm away, and it looked like it hurt.__

 _ _"Don't touch her," was what she said.__ _  
_ _ _That made me glad.__

 _ _"And we know it's Cardin who did this. Kinda obvious. I think all of you know that it was him."__ _  
_ _ _"Oh... Okay," my leader said, and she fidgeted a bit. She obviously didn't expect that, so she went back to her old routine.__ _  
_ _ _"I'm still very sorry. I-"__

 _ _Coco wouldn't have it. Coco couldn't stand that someone would say that they're sorry. She made everyone quit saying their useless apologies real quick__

 _ _"Oh yeah? You're sorry? Well, good for you. You know what? This isn't the first time something has made Velvet cry. She's had it worse than this. Where were you then, huh? Where were you? Now that you have a crowd of people behind you who agree, you're suddenly able to speak. You're phony. All of you are. You're all fake. You only care about Velvet when it's safe to do so. You only speak out when there's a crowd backing you up. That's useless. You might as well say nothing. So fuck off, all of you. Get out. You should've been there for her when it counted! This is just fake!"__

 _ _She was yelling. She started out talking in a very reserved, calm way, but now, each word she shouted made them recoil.__

 _ _"You're nothing but a bunch of cowards! All this time, all these weeks, Velvet was completely alone. All this time, you saw all of this happen, and you did nothing! Not a single one of you! You all just stood there and watched! So fuck you! Fuck you all!"__

 _ _She snatched her sunglasses from her face, and flung them at the crowd. They broke against the wall. The crowd backed away like she'd thrown a grenade, and about half of the people present took it as a sign to leave. Eh, I wouldn't miss them.__ _  
_ _ _I think I might buy her new ones, by the way. New sunglasses, as thank-you gift.  
She's making everyone upset, just for me. That makes me glad. Hearing her say the truth, the real, raw truth, panting, with a furious expression on her face, all of that makes me glad.__

 _ _"But we all want to help you," my team leader said. She'd gone red in the face. Really red. I think she was ashamed. I think she knew Coco was right. She was so quiet, I could barely hear her speak.__ _  
_ _ _Coco lashed out at her anyway, completely merciless.__ _  
_ _ _"Ha, congratulations on that. We couldn't care less. If you really want to help, then stay the hell out of our way."__ _  
_ _ _She pointed her finger right at the girl's face.__ _  
_ _ _"And no snitching on us either. Something's about to happen to Cardin. I don't want to hear a single word, from any of you, that it was us who had anything to do with it. Alright? Whatever happens, it wasn't us. I'm telling all of you for a reason. If you really want to help, then you keep your mouth shut. Instead of giving Velvet some useless__ _ _sympathy,__ _ _go out and keep an eye on that guy. And make sure he doesn't come here. Understood?"__

 _ _In unison, the crowd nodded__ _  
_ _ _"We'll do that. We'll do that," they mumbled, and one by one they walked off to somewhere, leaving us alone. Only my leader stayed.__ _  
_ _ _I was relieved, still. Coco made them all go away, just with what she said. Ha. I wish I was clever like that. She always knows to say the right things. More than that, she's completely willing to take the heat off me. And that made me glad.__

 _ _I still have to apologize to her, I realize. I asked her why this happened, earlier, even though she promised it would be over. Like I was blaming her for what had happened. That was really mean.__ _  
_ _ _And I called her a human, when she first talked to me. I called her a human, as if it was a bad thing.__ _  
_ _ _I was scared of her then, but it was still really mean. Terribly mean, actually. I want to curl up into a ball and hide in a corner, that's how embarrassed I feel about having said that. If I could take it back, I would. I wish I never said it at all.__

 _ _Now I know it's not about humans, or faunus. It's about good, and evil. Or maybe not even good and evil. Just 'not so evil' and evil.__ _  
_ _ _But it didn't matter to her, all of the mean things I had said. She kept following me anyway, reaching out for me, she wouldn't give up. And that's why I like her.__ _  
_ _ _She even said she could only be happy if I was happy. It was almost like a confession, haha.__

 _ _Meanwhile, my leader was looking more and more upset about our silence.__ _  
_ _ _"Just leave us alone," Coco finally said, "You're not needed. Not here. You know what you can do- go do it. Or not. But for god's sake, just get out"__ _  
_ _ _My leader turned to me, as if I would help her out.__

 _ _"But... Velvet... I'm your teammate. I- I also want to stay with you. I can't just leave... That'd be wrong..."__

 _ _"It's alright," I said, "you can continue to ignore me, like you always have."__

 _ _That was it. You can't believe how good it felt to say that. She backed off, slowly, and ran away.__ _  
_ _ _I think she was really shocked.__ _  
_ _ _Is it okay to smile? Is it okay to feel happy after telling someone something like that?__ _  
_ _ _Haha, I don't care! I'm going to smile anyway.__

 _ _We were alone, Coco and I, alone again.__ _  
_ _ _We still had something to do.__ _  
_ _ _"Velvet, remember the plan I told you about?" she asked me. Of course I did. There was no way I could forget.__ _  
_ _ _Coco said she has a plan. When we walked back to Beacon, she told me all about it.__ _  
_ _ _She said there was a time for talking, and a time for violence. It was real motivational and clever, and she said it in such a way that I can't repeat it back to you now. All I can remember is that it filled me with excitement.__

 _ _"There's one thing that living beings understand the best," I think she said, "and that's violence."__ _  
_ _ _Now, if Coco were to describe my smile, she would probably say that it was like the sun rising over the horizon or something. I'm not poetic like that, so I won't, and I don't even know if that's a metaphor that makes sense. All I know is that I smiled like an idiot.__

 _ _"We're still going through with it," Coco assured me.__ _  
_ _ _"I know it must be hard for you to do this, but you need to stay here for a while, okay? This is all so sudden, and I still need to prepare for something. If you go with me, there's no telling if we run into Cardin."__ _  
_ _ _"I don't mind."__ _  
_ _ _"But I do. I'll be back as soon as possible, okay? Just stay here, and you'll be safe. Safer than with me, at least. I'll make sure those idiots from just now actually stand guard, and I'll guilt trip your leader into being extra vigilant. Just stay put, and I'll be back as soon as possible."__

 _ _That was a while ago.__ _  
_ _ _She was preparing whatever she needed for our plan.__ _  
_ _ _Guess there's no going back now, even if I wanted to.__ _  
_ _ _I'm going to fight soon. It's what I want, truly. I'm looking forward to it. That's what it means to be a huntress, fighting.__

 _ _I don't suspect it will change a lot of things. What we're about to do will not change anything about what faunus have to go through.__ _  
_ _ _It won't change people's minds, it won't change the world either.__ _  
_ _ _Cardin would change, though. Especially in the physical sense, hahaha, and that's what I cared about. If things kept on going as they had been, if Coco and I did nothing, then I wouldn't be able to stay at Beacon, so I might as well go all out from now on. If all else failed, or if I'd get expelled for this, I'd be back to where I was anyway. So to hell with repercussions. And to hell with changing the world. This is just as important.__

 _ _Coco said it was pointless to try and change the world, and I agree with her.__ _  
_ _ _She said it was impossible to force a revolution, and if it was, she said she certainly couldn't do it.__ _  
_ _ _That was funny, because I knew she totally could.__

 _ _And speak of the devil- she's back already.__ _  
_ _ _Good. I've said all I wanted to say. There's no point in droning on.__

 _ _Farewell, memories. Farewell, feeling sad. Farewell diary, that I infused with all my emotions. You'll be burnt up along with my entire past.__

 _ _I hope I'll never have to see you again, and I won't miss you at all.__

 _ _yours truly,__

 _ _-Velvet Scarlatina__

* * *

The characteristic towers of Beacon rose over the horizon before us, after we had walked for about 15 minutes. We'd just come back from Vale, and I was a bit exhausted.  
Velvet was very enthusiastic in showing me around, and whenever we sat down for a bit, she happily told me about all the books she was reading.  
Sometimes, during one of her explanations about whatever she read, I thought that maybe she was too smart to be in Beacon.  
I didn't tell her that, of course.

Soon, the path through the meadows lead us into the school grounds

The walk there wasn't as awkward as I expected it to be. I said so many things to her in such a short time span, but only after our emotional back and forth did I gain the ability to get to know Velvet as a person. As someone unbound by anxiety, as a freed soul.  
It helped that she was a very pleasant to be around too, to say the least.

As we were nearly at the school, I decided to reveal a bit about what I thought up.

"From what you've told me, about the thirteenth crusade and the battle of Fort Castle, it's clear that there's only one thing sentient beings understand the best," I said, extremely pleased with the plan I had concocted.  
She listened to me, unperturbed.

"One thing, a universal code to perfectly get a message across."  
"You mean... language?" Velvet asked.  
"No, no, not language," I chuckled, and raised my fist to emphasize what I said, "violence."

I kept on talking, and she liked what I had to say.

Like the sun rising above the horizon, a smile slowly crept upon her face.

* * *

 **This chapter is a bit short, I apologize for that.**  
 **You might have noticed I finally bit the bullet and revealed the main character's identity. It's Coco, if that wasn't clear. An obvious choice, I think.**  
 **I will rewrite the previous chapters to reflect who the MC is, without namedropping her.**  
 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you didn't, please tell me why.**

 **As usual, I will be rewriting this chapter and earlier ones at some point, so keep an eye on that.  
Thanks again for reading, and please look forward to the next chapter!**

 **Addendum;  
While I was rereading this chapter to weed out typos and syntax errors, I had the chance to review what I'd written from a more objective standpoint. I realized then that this entire chapter is basically incomprehensible garbage. Definitely needs a rewrite, lol.  
(THE NEXT CHAPTER IS WRITTEN BETTER TRUST ME)**


	4. Untangled

Now that my sunglasses were broken, and my face was uncovered, the people I passed in the hallway got to witness the fury in my eyes. The eyes that were focused straight ahead, eyes belonging to a person with one goal in mind.

My anger was stacked up in four levels, and I would demolish them all. That thought was almost hardwired into my mind.  
There was no real approach to it- I'd start with the first one I could find, and go from there.  
The first three levels were preparatory work, I would handle those. The keystone would be for Velvet to take care of.

You know, anger is a tough emotion to deal with. Part of it felt good- the burning in your heart, your veins full of gasoline, it gives you a certain liberation. The strings that tie you to civil behaviour snap one by one. Right now, the Dionysian nature of man was what drove me.  
At the same time, something inside you tells you that it's wrong- anger is destruction for the sake of it, both for the bearer and the victim.  
Either way, I was sure the floor tiles cracked under my feet as I approached my first target.

He was framed by the portal that lead to Beacon's courtyard. Without a care in the world- a member of team CRDL. I forgot his name, though I'm sure at one point I knew it. It made no difference to me now. His name was irrelevant. I was glad I didn't know it.  
Feeling the quick jolts of pain in my knuckles, which cracked when they collided with his face, gave me gratuitous satisfaction all the same.  
I'd feel it again and again, as he wouldn't go down with one blow. But he did go down, and when the other two worthless teammates of his came running, I was more than ready to take them on. I didn't even use my weapon. I didn't need to and I didn't want to.

Studded gloves, metal boot heels and an engine running hot was all I needed to enact justice.  
No trial, no jury, just me. Twisted justice, sure, but that was best fitting for a twisted world.

Of this battle I was the clear victor- unanimously decided by both the fact that I was the last one standing, and the fact that nobody else was there to challenge me.  
In the end, they did managed to get in a few good hits on me. My nose was bleeding again. I didn't feel it at all, I only noticed after I saw that my shirt was stained red.  
Besides that, I'm sure I had a few bruises. I'll check those out later tonight, in the shower or something. It was kind of pathetic actually. It was three against one, and they didn't even make me break a sweat. I can't say I expected a tougher fight, though I expected it to be a bit more exciting.

Well, whatever. My first goal was reached. My heart slowed down a bit.  
The masonry of my fury had collapsed. Cracked like brickwork, three out of four CRDL members lay crumbled at my feet. Dust to dust, and all that.  
They no longer insulated the core of the problem. No longer were they in the way. Stripped away from all cover, the heart lay bare, and showed itself.

There he was- Cardin Winchester. I had to bite the inside of my cheek as to restrain myself from lunging at him.  
For a second I pondered whether he had always been evil, if maybe at some point he had also been just another innocent child. Probably. Maybe. It didn't change the here and now.  
It didn't change the way he walked up to me, with a raised chin and raised defences.  
A bystander might describe the scene as a Mexican standoff, but that would imply I was going to fight him at some point.  
He spoke. His face was cold and his voice was harsh.

"You did this all on your own?"

"I did."

He was impressed. I saw it in his eyes. Slowly he nodded.  
"Nice work," he said, and walking around his collapsed team in a big circle, he continued, "I guess you expect me to be scared now? Or intimidated?" he laughed, a short, dry sound, "is that what you're expecting?"

"No, I expect you to die. But hey, we can't have everything, can we?" I said.

"Very funny. Enjoy your mirth while it lasts."

He nudged one of his team mates with his foot.  
"But seriously? What does this mean? What did you hope to accomplish? Did you think you were doing anything other than making me very, very angry? Believe me, I'm angry. I'm never going to forgive you for this. You're going to wish you were dead after I rain my hell fire down on you-"

"Please, quit the bible quoting. I was just looking around for you, while spreading some retribution in the meantime. Out of all the things I expect from you, I don't expect you to understand that last part."

He laughed again, his shoulders jerked.

"It let me blow off some steam," I continued, "as you make me very angry too. You know that, right?"

"I know, I know," he sang, and folded his hands behind his back. So casual- this really meant nothing to him.

"I know that you're on some misguided crusade to save your pet. I know that you have some grudge against me just because I am who I am. I know that you're crazy, and that you hate humans, and that you would prefer to live in some hole in the ground somewhere, surrounded by a pack of animals. I know all of that, I know what kind of a person you are. You really think you're doing the right thing. You're insane, that's what I know. And it's because I know all of that about you, that I wanted to help you. A good human doesn't deserve to to be brainwashed the way you have been, to believe that you should be dragged through the dirt for the sake of an animal. That's not what you are worth. I mean, look at you: you defeated my entire team! We can't have you wasting away your talents by being some martyr for a race of sub humans!  
And so, me being me, I gave you a warning.  
To steer you away from that path, I thought I'd give you a little message. A real piece of art, what I did to that faunus' room, huh? Did you like it? I guess not, because here you are. Here _we_ are, I should say. To fight, I suppose? Is that why you beat up my team? To provoke me? You talk about retribution, but surely you can't be content with just these three guys to be defeated. It's me who you're after. You don't have to say it, I already know. You want a fight with me. You ignored my warning and humiliated my team... Impressive, I admit. Maybe even a brave move- that's what some people might call it. Me? I call it idiocy. There's a fine line between courage and stupidity, and you just crossed it. I remember the last time we had a tussle. Ha, my head still hurts from where you kicked me. I'll admit you held victory then, but don't think you'll win a second time. The only reason you beat me last time was because you caught me off guard. You caught me unawares, like a coward. That's one part I don't like about you, but we can fix it with some work. Get that faunus slave mentality out of your system. That is, after I beat the complete shit out of you," he smiled, "I will stomp you into the ground, I will make you regret ever even looking at a faunus. And I will do it fair and square, one on one, no ganging up and no cheating."

He spread his arms, as if inviting me to take the initiative,

"This is a chance I'm offering you! You got any grievances? Go ahead and act upon them. Beat me up if you can! I don't mind knocking the delusions out of your head! I only do what's best, even now. So, I'll teach you. Come on then!"

I listened to his speech just to humor him. I didn't really give a shit about what he had to say. He only dug his own grave deeper with every word he spoke. And he's so thick-headed he didn't even understand my true intentions.  
He dropped his arms back down to his side in response to my inaction.

"What are you waiting for? Come on! Don't tell me you came all this way just to talk. That's not it, right?" he scoffed, " a coward till the end. You make me sick."

"We share that sentiment, trust me. To answer your question: no, I didn't come here to talk, Cardin," I said, and slipped off the glove I wore on my left hand, "and I didn't come here to fight. Not now, at least."

I threw my glove. It described a perfect curve, and landed just shy of a foot away from him. He was dumb, but it seemed he understood this message, as a toothy grin appeared on his face.

"The traditional way, huh?" he said, "That's honourable. I like it. I knew there was hope for you."  
He picked the glove up from the ground, and slowly pulled it over his hand. It was too small for him.

"T minus thirty, in the empty storage room behind the gym," I said.  
"Sounds good. Is that it?"  
"Bring a weapon, maybe. If you want to. I would, if I were you."  
"I don't care what you'd do if you were me," he said, "What I wanna know is: are _you_ bringing a weapon?"  
"No, I'm not."  
"Then I won't either."  
"Whatever you want. Just be there."

The glove tore apart at its seams as Carding forced it over his hand.  
I heard it rip when I turned away.

* * *

"A duel? That's a bit archaic, isn't it?"  
Velvet made me laugh with her honesty.

"Ha, maybe. It's a tried and true method though. Win or lose, you have to stick with he terms that were decided upon beforehand. And the way Cardin's been going on about how great humanity is, I doubt he will blemish the honour of his people by breaking the terms."  
"Honour of his people, huh," Velvet muttered. She probably understood that an endeavor like that was moot for Cardin, who had already done enough to dishonour every living person.  
"It's perfect," I continued, "You rough him up, beat him up, bring him to the edge of death. All under the guise of a duel. Those are allowed in the school, so neither of us will get in trouble either."  
She looked up at me, surprised.

"To the edge of death? Are you serious?"  
"I meant it as a figure of speech," I lied, "just go all out. It's what you want, right?"  
"Absolutely," she said, "absolutely.

Velvet had little else to say about my plan, after I talked her through it. She seemed to like the idea, thankfully, though she did get flustered when I laid out the crucial terms of the duel to her.  
"I-I don't think he'll agree to this," she said when she read through the file on my scroll,  
"No, he will. He definitely will."  
"Uh, well, even then, I don't think I do, actually..."

I understood her discomfort perfectly. If I were to be faced with the terms I myself had come up with, I would wholeheartedly refuse. We couldn't afford to change the terms though. We had to bag Cardin, and this was the only way to do it.  
"I'm sorry Velvet, but I'm pretty sure this is the only way we can get him to agree to our terms. There has to be something good for him in it too, after all. Otherwise he'll just deny the challenge."

"Yeah, but, but... Right here it says 'anything'. I-I don't like the implications of that."  
"Trust me, it makes me shudder too."  
She giggled hesitantly. My comment wasn't exactly reassuring. Well, it wasn't meant to be. I just wanted to share my feelings, so at least she knew I didn't like the terms either. But Velvet's cooperation was imperative, so I had to explain my reasoning too.  
"The implications are what makes it attractive for him," I said, "He wants something that he can't have. If we dangle that thing right in front of his nose, there's no way he'll back down. Believe me, this is a surefire way to make him accept. And when you beat him, he'll stick to doing what we want. "

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Ha! That's simple. We'll break his legs."

"Coco, don't be silly."

"I'm not! Think about it. If you can beat him once, you can beat him twice, whether he breaks the terms or not. He has nothing on us."

"Hmm. Are you sure I can win though?"

"I guarantee it."

As bold as that statement was, it was true. I would never have Velvet enter a duel with Cardin if I didn't have a trick up my sleeve. I don't question her ability to fight, by the way, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

 _ **Scarlet Fever:  
**_ Burn everything around its carrier, or you can't stop the infection from spreading.  
I'll have you know that I'm no doctor, and I know nothing about medicine. I'm still sure as hell that it was finally time for the flames to rise.

* * *

I had to leave Velvet in her room for a while to go beat up the chumps from CRDL, among other things. It was the best thing I could think to do. Even though her dorm was sacked, she didn't mind staying there. I could've kept her in my room, which might have been better, as it was a place she had no emotional connection to, but I didn't want to go through the trouble of explaining her presence to my team mates who would undoubtedly be there.

After I finished my business and I returned, I found her where I left her. I guess something happened while I was gone, because when I sprinted through the door opening, I saw she lost her otherwise dour look.  
On the fluffy remains of her bed she sat, busy scribbling on a piece of paper.

"I'm back," I said.  
Her ears twitched, and she put her pen down after quickly jotting down a few more words.  
Only when she had neatly folded the paper in four, did she turn to me.  
"Do you have a lighter?" she asked.  
As a matter of fact, I did. I don't even know why, as I don't smoke. I threw it at her. She caught it without looking.  
"What's that you were writing?" I asked.

"Oh, just some stuff I want to forget."

The lighter clicked, producing a small flame. The folded paper was set ablaze. Velvet watched it burn. Its ashes fed the already large pile on the floor. As the flames licked the paper, her shoulders relaxed, and I felt a shift in her aura. By the time the fire died out, she was calm. Calm, like before a storm.  
We lay side by side, on her bed. There was some time to kill. We had half an hour, after all.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.  
"Nervous?" she repeated slowly, "are you crazy? I'm excited!"  
Her ears bobbed up and down, her hazel eyes unblinking, and the corner of her mouth rose slightly.  
Totally ignoring the previous conversation, she suddenly said something completely out of the blue.

"Hey, your nose is bleeding."  
She had perked up, as if she awoke from a daydream

"Oh, I know," I replied, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

I didn't want to make her worry about it, but she refused to let it go.

"I'm worrying anyway. Here..."

She procured a handkerchief from her pocket, and sidled up to me. Then, gently, she she wiped the blood off my face and neck. She was so close, I could feel her breath tickle on my face. Honestly, I still don't know how that made me feel. A bit confused, maybe.  
She thought nothing of it, though, and threw the small piece of fabric away. She's very perceptive, I found, as she noticed something else about me too.

"One of your gloves is gone," she said.  
"Uh, yeah? Just another thing of mine that's missing. It doesn't really matter."

Her eyes eventually drifted away from my bare hand.  
We said nothing more, and basked in quietness.  
We laid side by side for while longer, on a ruined bed, staring at the ceiling.  
The silence we shared would continue forever if it hadn't been broken by the alarm I had set going off.

25 minutes had passed- it felt like forever.  
There were 5 more minutes to go, so I jumped up.

"That's our mark. You ready?" I asked her.  
"One hundred percent ready," Velvet confirmed.  
"You better be, 'cos it's showtime," I grinned.

By the time we reached the back of the gym, well, her smile was anything but slight.

* * *

We met him at the appointed place, at the appointed time.

He stood in the corner of the large, dingy storage room. Its hardwood floor was scratched, the single door leading in had dents in it, and a small lightbulb was the only source of illumination. There were no windows, nothing else to let in light.  
The one thing I didn't know was how Velvet would react. My only fear was that she might freeze up once she got to stand face to face with Cardin. Thankfully my fear was unfounded. His presence didn't bother her at all. She kept her cool, as if he wasn't there at all.

"Took you long enough," Cardin remarked.  
"We're right on time, actually."

He made a dismissive gesture.  
"Whatever. Tell me what's happening."

The atmosphere was unpleasant to say the least. It wasn't like we were going to exchange some pleasantries, so I got down to brass tacks.  
"I've got a document here. It details the terms of the duel, along with some other things. You can read it if you like."  
"No, I hate reading," Cardin said, "just tell me what the terms are so we can get this over with."

Things were speeding along nicely then. That was good.  
"The terms," I said, reading from the document on my scroll, "will be the following;"  
Cardin peered at me from the far end of the room with crossed arms, while Velvet sprang up and down on her toes, humming quietly.

"If you, Cardin Winchester, lose this duel, then you and your friends will cease engaging in any contact with Velvet Scarlatina. On top of that, you will compensate for any and all property damage you and your team caused."

Cardin shrugged.  
"Lose? Like that's ever gonna happen. Just hurry up and say what's in it for me already."

"If you, Cardin Winchester, win this duel," I continued, "then Velvet will pay you the sum of 100,000 lien. On top of that, she, Velvet Scarlatina, will do anything you tell her to until she graduates from Beacon. No exceptions. That's it."

Oh god, it was almost embarrassing for me to say that, and I really did feel sorry for Velvet. We'd both have to swallow our uncomfortable feelings though. As long as Cardin took the bait, we'd be set. All he had to do was say yes.

* * *

 **" _One will start to hate that which they can not have_ "**

This is a old psychological theorem, I forget who coined it. Whoever it was, they must have been a genius. The actual research paper that expanded on the concept was a lot longer, of course, but the above sentence is pretty much what it boiled down to.

It was a logical assertation, and simple to remember too. More than that, it was the basis of my plan, as the way Cardin treated Velvet resonated with this principle. Port had told me behaviour like his came from upbringing. Maybe, sometime in his life, he was raised not to interact with faunus, giving him some sort of wicked obsession with them. Maybe he never actually hated them. Maybe his evil was cultivated. In that case, I could make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Make up a very simple, but very attractive prize that he would receive in case he won. Something that would make him agree with accepting the duel, despite the terms we had set for him in case he lost. A gamble, sure, but by now I was playing with loaded dice.

If my plan succeeded, then I guess that means I'm a genius too, or at least that I'm standing on the shoulders of one.

And in case I failed? ...Well, I'd rather not think about that. Failure isn't an option anyway, so why bother?

* * *

"Anything?" Cardin asked. His eyes glimmered.

"Anything," I said.  
His eyes shifted around the room, back and forth, and stayed locked on Velvet. If I could read minds, his thoughts right now would probably make me puke.  
He licked his lips, and nodded.

"I agree. I agree with the terms."  
There we go. He fell for it. I just made him agree to a con in which he got the short end of the stick. Now I'd have to nudge in the little advantage for Velvet too.

"Not so fast. There's one more thing," I said.  
"What?"  
Cardin rapidly tapped his foot, anxious to start the duel he thought he would win. There was something so exciting about the prospect of victory, that any delay visibly annoyed him- just as I expected.

"The challenging party- that would be us- will receive a slightly advantageous handicap, with eye on our position. The handicap being-"  
"Yeah yeah, handicap, great. Go on and have it, you'll need it. Just let me sign already," Cardin interrupted me, and he took out his scroll. Well, that was easy.  
"As you wish," I said, and let him add his digital signature to the document I had created before.

Velvet too, added her signature. This, for the first time, sparked some discomfort with Cardin.  
"Hey, hey, hold up," he said, "why is she signing it?"  
"Because she's the one you'll be fighting."  
"But I thought I'd be fighting you."  
"No no, that's not the case. You would've known who your opponent was if you read the contract beforehand, like I suggested," I said, "If there's any problem, you're free to back out. Though because you've already signed the contract, it would mean the challenging party wins."

Judging by his frown, he seemed to realize he was in no position to argue. I knew this revelation wouldn't make him fly off the handle though- why would he? He didn't regard Velvet as a competent opponent, so as far as he knew, his chances of winning just went up.  
"Nah. Fuck that. I don't care who I'll fight. I'll win anyway. Let's get this going."

He smirked. Velvet smiled back. If I was the one who was about to go toe to toe with Velvet, her calmness would've set off several alarm bells in my head, signaling that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to fight the girl. It was almost a miracle Cardin didn't see the flags that were raised.

"Both participants, please take your positions," I said, prompting Cardin to strut to one end of the room, and Velvet to skip to the other.  
"Now, this should be fun. Let's see what you've got, bunny girl. Show me a good time!" he said, and cracked his knuckles. His arrogance was back in full bloom.

Velvet's smile didn't waver, of course. The person she was now didn't feel intimidated by the likes of him.  
"Listen up," I said, "once I apply the handicap, the duel will commence. It will be over once the aura of either party runs out, or either yields."  
"Apply the handicap?" Cardin said, "how the hell am I supposed to know when you do that?"  
"Oh, you'll know," I replied.

My eyes drifted over to Velvet and our eyes met. She winked at me.  
"Don't hold back," I silently mouthed, and she nodded once in response.  
With each combatant in their respective area, nothing held me back from starting the match.  
The tension in the air was palpable. The two nemeses impatiently shifted their weight from one leg to the other. If was someone with a knack for drama, I'd leave them hanging like that for a few more seconds.

But I wasn't, so I reached for the light switch.

 _(A handicap. Velvet was in stitches when I described it like that._

 _"But you can see in the dark, right?" I protested._

 _"Yeah, yeah, I can," Velvet assured me._

 _"Then it's perfect, isn't it?"_

 _"You're the worst," Velvet said, and laughed again.)_

With that memory fresh in my mind, I flicked the button. With an almost inaudible click, the room went completely dark- the duel had begun.

* * *

 _ **Scarlet Fever**_

A disease so infectious that you have to-

...you know what? I'm sick of saying that. So, I'm not saying it again. I'm sure by now you know what scarlet fever means anyway.  
I'm sure you also remember I said that I'm no doctor, and that I know next to nothing about medicine.

Velvet, on the other hand, is a very skilled practitioner, so to speak- and for the first time ever, she was ready to get to work.

* * *

I wish I could describe to you how the duel went. I really do. I nearly feel disappointed that my plan involved the darkness, as I would've loved to see what happened.

As it was, I could only sit back and listen to whatever went down. The way she fought Cardin was still a mystery to me. I knew she hit him though, of that I was sure. The telltale thud of a good punch was very familiar to me, and I heard it a lot during those few moments. Cardin made a lot of noise, too. He yelled some incomprehensible words, and made a lot of funny sounds. Pretty soon he went quiet, though.

During our time at Beacon, I asked Velvet a few times what it was exactly that she did to Cardin, how the 'duel' transpired. Not once did she answer. The question usually triggered a fit of giggling in her, but sometimes she'd look at me with elusive eyes, and tell me that it was her secret.

That's all I had to be satisfied with, and let me tell you, I was satisfied.

Hearing the sound of Cardin receiving his just desserts- whatever it was- was more than enough for me. During the fight, I think Velvet shed the miasma of despondence that haunted her, it dissipated with each blow she dealt.

After five minutes in the dark, she whispered in my ear that it was over, and I felt her hand slip in mine.  
I knew that from then on, everything would be alright.

Together we walked away, through the open door of the storage room, into the world of light beyond it.

 **- _The end_** _ **-**_

* * *

 **(Hold on to your butts people. Even though the chapter just finished with 'the end,' that doesn't mean the story is over.**  
 **Keep and eye out for the epilogue I will release, after I finish rewriting the previous chapters. It will be out in a week or two.**  
 **With that out of the way, I'd like to give an honest to god 'thank-you' to the people who read this till the end. You don't believe how much I appreciate the fact that you read my story.**  
 **If you want to, please leave any and all critiques in a review, it would be really helpful to hear some feedback.**  
 **Anyway, I'll leave you with that.**

 **Yours sincerely,**

 **~Max Stirner.)**


	5. Not the usual position

Life continued as usual for Velvet and me. We were busy with tests, and the training got increasingly more difficult, and... well, it went on, life did. To say that it was nothing interesting would be wrong, but to continue describing everything that happened to us after what happened is too much of the good stuff.

There are, however, a few things I want you all to know.

First of all, a few days after that certain event, some packages arrived for Velvet, containing fresh school supplies. Her bed was replaced too, as were her uniforms. Her clothes were not renewed, though an impressive amount of money was deposited to her bank account. We planned to spend it all in Vale. I'm not bragging when I say I developed quite a knack for fashion, and I anticipated dressing Velvet up in exquisite garments greatly.

It was Cardin, of course, who kept his end of the deal. Begrudgingly, I imagine. Other than that, he avoided us, and our gazes. Something about being beaten to a pulp changed him, or reverted him maybe. Whatever, who cares about that?

I woke up the next day feeling surprisingly refreshed. To compliment my good feeling, there was a present lying in wait for me.

I had gone in early the previous night. My exhaustion had been trying to catch up to me for the past few days, and when it finally did, I practically collapsed. Velvet was extremely tired too.

In the end we decided to flop down on a bench in the empty cafeteria, stuffing ourselves before staggering off to bed. Despite what happened, neither of us was particularly excited. We embraced the victory with docile acceptance. There were no elated feelings, no fanfaronade. As if the physical action was only a definitive full stop to what had already been processed in our minds.

* * *

While we showered, Velvet suddenly gasped.

"I just remembered I don't have a bed to sleep in," I heard her say from somewhere within the swirls of steam. What she didn't know, was that she was wrong.

"Yeah, you do," I told her, "You can sleep in mine."

"In- in your bed?"

"Sure."

"B-but where will you sleep?"

"Also in my bed. It's big enough to share."

Now, that last bit wasn't exactly true. My bed was the average, standard size bed that Beacon provided.

But a bed it was, and it would have to serve as a twofer for the night. I knew my team would be off somewhere from the evening till the afternoon on the succeeding day, so there would be no prying eyes to disturb the both of us.

In bed, the bed I shared, I was sweating bullets. It was definitely warm that night. Or hot, as they say. No blanket or douver necessary. Because, you know, it was summer after all. That's the sole reason, I swear.

The sunlight hit me in unison with a weak breeze, both entering through an open window, waking me up.

The first thing I noticed was a small box, wrapped up in green paper, with a ribbon around it, resting on my night stand.

My interest was definitely piqued, the box light in my hands.

"For Coco," the label read.

She was an endearing girl, Velvet. I knew this already, of course, but it were little things that kept reminding you. Little things like this.

The contents of the box shouldn't have surprised me, but they did. Looking back, it was pretty obvious what it would contain.

On top of a satin cloth lay a pair of sunglasses.

And not just any- the lenses shone like a polished hubcab and were as black as onyx.

Without hesitating (I couldn't wait to don such a marvelous piece of work) I carefully picked up the shades from their resting place, and slipped them on.

Perfect, is what I would describe them as being. The legs fit so well it was like I wasn't wearing them, the lenses were crystal clear, and I'm pretty sure they were polarized too.

When did Velvet have time to set this up?

She must've snuck out to Vale real early to buy these for me- just for me.

She'd gone to a store, probably several, and carefully considered each design.

She also remembered perfectly what sunglasses I used to have and based her decision on that, picking out a similar yet more elegant variation. It must've been a hell of an expensive one on top of that, by the looks of it.

Then, she had to rush back to Beacon to leave the present on my nightstand, all before I woke up.

If I was anymore of a romantic, I might've shed a tear of happiness. Instead, I clutched my sheets and rolled around, giggling like no one cared- I for one, sure didn't, especially since this was the best way for me to express the emotion that can only be described as 'glee'.

After I rolled around so much I fell off my bed, I decided enough was enough, got dressed as quickly as I could, and rushed out.

* * *

My mind was brimming with what I wanted to do. Talk, of course, but that was the mundane part. More importantly, I wanted to convey something beyond words, and I did that first.

The moment I spotted her sitting somewhere in the meadow that is Beacon's courtyard, I ran straight at her.

Once I reached the 'destination,' if you could call it that, who was sitting with her face to the sun, eyes opened only slightly, I took a massive leap.

As she yelled in surprise after I tackled her, I swung my arms around her in a tight hug.

We toppled over in unison, and stayed like that for a while, laying entangled in the grass.

Velvet at this point was giggling at my display of affection,

"Come on, we have to stop now," she said, sounding like she didn't want to quit our activity at all.

"Why?" I retorted, "I don't want to!"

"That's fine, but I think there's someone who wants to talk to us."

I looked up through the brown strands of Velvet's hair that got draped over my face, and saw a figure standing over us with his back to the sun.

"I'm not interrupting anything, I hope?" he said.

"Not at all, sir," Velvet replied, and let go of me.

Standing beside us was Port, holding a few papers, with a half smile on his face.

"Well, ladies, I won't bother you for very long. I'll be brief- I have these files for you to look at, miss Scarlatina," he said, and he bent down to hand two stacks of paper to the girl who was laying on her back.

"Professor Ozpin caught wind that maybe you weren't exactly satisfied with your current team. Since you aren't the only student who feels this way, we teachers decided to shuffle a few things around."

Velvet slowly flipped through the first file.

"That's possible?" she asked, "I thought the teams were final."

"We do indeed like to test students by randomly assigning them into teams with the eye-contact arrangement, but that system has its flaws, I admit. Anyway, those two lads could be your new teammates, if you'd like."

I took a peek into the papers Velvet was holding. On one of them I saw a passport photo featuring a young man with dark red hair and peculiar eyes. In another, I briefly spotted the profile information of a guy called "Yatsuhashi," who according to the info was 6"4 tall.

"I have one question professor," Velvet piped up, "Do you not yet know who the fourth member of the team would be?"

Port chuckled in response.

"That would be the girl next to you. My apologies, I thought it was obvious."

* * *

We rolled around in the grass for a while longer- we would have done so forever, if it were up to me- and continued to spend the day doing gratuitous amounts of nothing. That something so normal as being in each other's presence could feel amazing, was crazy to me. Then again, Velvet _is_ pretty amazing, so that probably explains it. A mysterious feeling followed me around like a flock of butterflies that day, and everytime Velvet turned around to me, for whatever reason, my heart fluttered. With a spring in my step I followed her, and followed her, and followed her.

Velvet was happy. We were both happy, which meant we had already pushed way past the centerpoint of the status quo- which is exactly where we wanted to be. No more excitement, just tranquility, at least for the time being. The only thing we would have to focus on was killing grimm, which was something I looked forward to. In a few days we'd leave for the forever fall forest, my hands already itched to grab my weapon.

Whatever happens from now, well, that's for someone else to decide. If anything good happens- let it happen. If anything bad happens- we'll be ready. In the meantime, I'll just be enjoying my school life while I can.

Yeah. I think that's a good idea.

* * *

Velvet Scarlatina. The girl that meant a lot to me.

The girl who, despite everything, was happily nibbling on a sandwich beside me. The girl who did not break. Crack, perhaps- but she was too tough to break.

She could be an inspiration for all of us, though forget that. She was an inspiration to me.

Looking at her now, sitting in the grass and basking in the sun, I knew it would be all right from now on. We've yet to see whether that's true.

But the way she giggled at jokes we made, the way she held her head high, the way her eyes shone with brightness I never saw before, well, if that wasn't good

then I don't know what is.

- _the end-_


End file.
